{"id":18842,"date":"2015-03-26T09:05:45","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T13:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=18842"},"modified":"2015-03-26T09:05:45","modified_gmt":"2015-03-26T13:05:45","slug":"lifted-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifted Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Omar Aminzay is tackling his MBA at the University of Mary Washington in the same way that he approaches lifting 525 pounds, one day at a time.<\/p>

The first-generation American, whose parents emigrated from Afghanistan in the 1970s as refugees, has mapped out his life for the next decade. He aims to compete in his next powerlifting competition within the next 10 months; advance to a middle management position within five years; become a chief financial officer within 10 years.  He’ll accomplish these goals one day at a time.<\/p>

“My parents came here for the American dream. They sacrificed their lives to make a better one for me. That is what fuels me,” said Aminzay, who works as a project accountant for CACI Incorporated. “A day that I don’t have a plan is a bad day.”<\/p>

\"Omar<\/a>Aminzay, who starts each day with a to-do list, received his bachelor of science in business administration in three years at UMW, and he’ll complete his master of business administration in one year. He works 40 to 50 hours a week, takes four classes a semester and works out four times a week.<\/p>

“I will do whatever I possibly can,” said Aminzay. “I am a person that is process oriented. I have a task and I have a goal and I have a timeline.”<\/p>

As a freshman, Aminzay found his niche in weightlifting. Now, he competes in powerlifting competitions once a year. At his peak, Aminzay has bench pressed 345 pounds, squat lifted 525 pounds and dead lifted 500 pounds. Within the next six months, he plans to bench 360 pounds and squat 600 pounds.<\/p>

He approaches his weekly workouts with the Central Virginia Athletic and Barbell Club<\/a> with a plan. For each workout session, he determines the amount of weight he will lift by the end of it and works until he reaches that goal. He also knows his weaker muscles and spends sessions concentrating on working to make them stronger.<\/p>

“It’s an escape from life, from the stress and everything. It’s that one part of the day when you don’t have to think about anything but just working out,” said Aminzay. “It makes my Monday mornings a lot better.”<\/p>

After graduation, Aminzay will take Certified Public Accountant classes with the goal of getting his license to continue on his career path. He’ll take the first exam in October 2015.<\/p>

“With weightlifting, you can’t just go in and lift 500 pounds. It’s a combination of working by small steps. You have to constantly adjust how you’re training and ultimately have an end picture of where you’re going,” said Aminzay. “And I think that translated really well with my career and my education.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Omar Aminzay is on a mission to succeed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":18843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,81],"tags":[9],"class_list":{"0":"post-18842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"category-umw-home","9":"tag-business","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLifted Learning - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melina Downs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melina Downs\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7\"},\"headline\":\"Lifted Learning\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-26T13:05:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":450,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"business\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\",\"UMW Home Page\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lifted Learning - Great Minds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-26T13:05:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg\",\"width\":5528,\"height\":2637},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/26\\\/lifted-learning\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lifted Learning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Great Minds\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7\",\"name\":\"Melina Downs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melina Downs\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/author\\\/mdowns\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lifted Learning - Great Minds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melina Downs","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/"},"author":{"name":"Melina Downs","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7"},"headline":"Lifted Learning","datePublished":"2015-03-26T13:05:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/"},"wordCount":450,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg","keywords":["business"],"articleSection":["Show on Great Minds","UMW Home Page"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/","name":"Lifted Learning - Great Minds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg","datePublished":"2015-03-26T13:05:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg","width":5528,"height":2637},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/03\/26\/lifted-learning\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lifted Learning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/","name":"Great Minds","description":"University of Mary Washington","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7","name":"Melina Downs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melina Downs"},"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/author\/mdowns\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/Omar-Aminzay1_HP.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}